Glenn McGrath

Saturday, June 04, 2011

As England fans we remember too well at the Reverse Sweep how often the dominant Australian side would snatch Test match victory from the jaws of defeat.

We lost count of the number of times that when they had slipped to three or four down for not very many, Steve Waugh or Adam Gilchrist would put their side back into the ascendency by grinding or blasting a hundred respectively. McGrath, Warne and co would then do the rest.

Happily, England have now developed similar good habits.

At first under the Flower-Strauss axis, England learned how to save Test matches from seemingly impossible situations. The trio of glorious nine-wicket down draws at Cardiff 2009, Centurion 2009 and Newlands 2010 provide ample enough evidence of that.

Now when England have to save a Test they do it with a bit more panache. And you don’t do that more emphatically than England did at Brisbane last November. 517/1 indeed.

England have now moved to the next level. At Trent Bridge and Lord’s last summer, England were in real trouble against Pakistan’s excellent bowling attack.

But they recovered in style. At Trent Bridge, it was Morgan and Collingwood in the 1st innings, and Prior in the 2nd. Whilst at Lord’s, it was that massive stand between Trott and Broad that took the Test and a drawn series away from Pakistan.

Yesterday’s first day at Lord’s provided another example of England’s resolve. First Cook and Bell played the Waugh part to repair from a precarious 22/3, before Morgan and Prior assumed the Gilchrist role and blasted England into the ascendency by the close of play. England’s bowlers will probably do the rest over the coming days.

A sign of an excellent cricket side is the ability to turn games around in a blink of an eye. England can do that now. As can India – the final Test of the tour to Sri Lanka last summer being just one example – so the forthcoming Test series promises to be a real clash of the titans.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, Prince Ricky ascended to the throne upon the death of King Stephen. The King is dead, long live the King.

It was akin to Camelot, King Ricky had at his disposal a quorom of fearsome Knights, the like of whom had not been seen since the time of the Round Table. Chief amongst them was Sir Shane – a Knight that was able to conjure up victory from the jaws of defeat such as in the famous skirmish with the English at the Battle of Adelaide in 2006.

Many foes tried to storm the citadel, but all were easily beaten. King Ricky’s Green and Gold expedition force was also all-conquering overseas apart from a surprise defeat to the English in 2005 where Sir Glenn was felled by an arrow in the ankle, Sir Adam was rendered ineffective and the English found a new hero in Freddie of Preston.

But after being newly installed as Prince Regent of England due to the madness of King Vaughan, Freddie’s attempt to storm King Ricky’s castle a year later was met with ignominious defeat and ultimately the pedalo scandal.

King Ricky was now at the peak of his powers as the most dominant ruler in the world – no arrow could pierce his armour and no sword could breach his shield.

Then at the point of his greatest triumph, Sir Shane succumbed to his gambling habit, absconded from the castle and was last seen consorting with a failed actress. Sir Justin and Sir Glenn departed at the same time and shortly afterwards, Sir Matthew left to become a full-time cook and Sir Adam hung up his helmet to become a well-paid mercenary.

With his best Knights deserting him at the same time, a bereft King Ricky was suddenly vulnerable. Overseas raiding parties now met with regular defeat on the battlefield and the nototiously brittle Proteas army even managed to breach the walls of King Ricky’s castle, before his forces launched a successful counterattack.

But with the newly powerful English landing on his shore in the autumn of 2010 under the astute leadership of Lord Strauss of Radley and his Chief Adviser – a mysterious wizard only known as Flower, King Ricky knew the game was up. His new Knights were not up to the task. Sir Doug wears a toupee for Christ's sake, Sir Twatto has no staying power and is prone to tears, Sir Mitch is just as likely to slice himself open with his own sword then kill any of the enemy, and as for his heir Prince Michael the less said the better.

King Ricky took a gamble. Sir Nathan had proved a steady if uninspiring successor to Sir Shane. But King Ricky didn’t need steady, he needed the X-Factor. So, he knighted his unimpressive steward as Sir Xavier, and Sir Nathan was sent to the haberdashery to sell his old armour.

But, Sir Xavier had no pedigree and failed to impress in the battles at Brisbane and Adelaide. In the aftermath of the latter tussle, his fool Hilditch suggested that King Ricky have a Beer instead and lo and behold that is exactly what happened.

Things got better temporarily at the Battle of Perth, where Sir Mitch and Sir Cricket excelled but the English decimated his army at the Battle of Melbourne and King Ricky himself was wounded as his castle was ransacked by the rampant English sprinkled with some Proteas insurgents.

Too little, too late it was decided to exile the disgraced Sir Xavier and Sir Nathan was handed a new suit of armour for the forthcoming battle for the Holy Grail. King Ricky and his predecessor have successfully held onto the precious Grail for 12 years, but either King Strauss, King Muppet or King Mahendra all look set to wrest it from his grip over the coming weeks.

All seems lost for King Ricky. He has even taken to humming a tune from the famous English songsmith Sir Christopher of Martin:

“I used to rule the world / Seas would rise when I gave the word / Now in the morning I sleep alone / Sweep the streets I used to own ...”

The inevitability of final defeat awaits and King Ricky knows that his folly of placing his kingdom in the hands of the untried Sir Xavier has proved to be a mistake of the most deadly proportions.

Prince Michael, it would seem, is already practicing his apologies and planning a new tattoo for his coronation - not that he is going to be King of much.

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

On a day when the SCG went pink in memory of Jane McGrath, Alastair Cook again looked in prime form as his plunder from the series rose to three hundreds and 766 runs. In the process, Cook became the 2nd highest run accumulator ever in a test series for England going past Denis Compton (753 vs South Africa in 1947) and his mentor Graham Gooch (752 against India in 1990 - in just three tests). Gooch is fond of the phrase 'Daddy' hundred to describe the importance of aiming big when a batsman passes 100. Cook has certainly done that in the series with scores of 235* at Brisbane, 148 at Adelaide and 189 here. And with Cook also passing John Edrich's record of batting 2,006 minutes in an Ashes series, he can ask Gooch 'who's the Daddy now?'

From Sherminator to Terminator

After 18 Tests and 12 scores of 50 plus, Ian Bell finally got to three figures against Australia. In the process, he enjoyed the luck he perhaps hasn't previously in the Ashes. First, a decision to give him out caught behind off an inside edge when he had 67 was contentiously over-ruled on review when hot-spot failed to spot a mark on the bat. Then on 84, he was dropped by Steve Smith off a sharp caught and bowled chance. But as throughout the series, Bell's innings was one of the highest class and came when England needed it - countering all the old arguments that Bell only scores runs when the pressure is off. When he came in, England were still 49 runs behind, but when he was out just before the close, he walked off with his side in complete command. As Shane Warne joked on-air, Bell has gone from sherminator to terminator.

Pup whimpers for Glenn on Jane McGrath Day

It was wonderful to see the support from players, supporters and broadcasters alike for Jane McGrath - although we're not sure about Nasser Hussain's shocking pink suit, but Michael Clarke may suggest simply re-naming day 3 at the SCG 'McGrath Day'. With Glenn McGrath so omnipresent on this day in particular, Pup will have been forgiven if he spent most of the day whimpering for the former all-time great to be in his attack. The fact that Shane Watson looked Australia's most dangerous seamer said everything and Clarke even had to turn to Mike Hussey for an over before tea. With Australia's next Test assignment being in Sri Lanka things are unlikely to get any better for Clarke's impotent attack.

What is the point of Steve Smith?

We're not quite sure what Steve Smith is supposed to be, and neither so it would seem is Clarke. With Smith demoted to seven in the order for this Test, it would seem that the selectors have him down as an all-rounder. But he failed with the bat again and then Clarke didn't turn to him with the ball until the England innings was over 100 overs old. When he failed to hold on to the admittedly difficult caught and bowled chance from Bell, it dawned on us that Smith could well be the first f***-all-rounder in Test history. As D-Ream once sang, 'Things Can Only Get Better' for the youngster.

Third time lucky for Beer could spell doom for Colly

Twice Michael Beer thought he had his first test wicket and both times he was foiled by the video umpire correctly reprieving Cook on 46 and 99. So it was hardly surprising that he gave a quick look at the umpire before celebrating the wicket of Paul Collingwood. A case of third time lucky for Beer, but not for Collingwood who probably hasn't had a worse taste in his mouth since he last sampled some of the local Australian brew. We're big fans of Colly here at the Reverse Sweep, but even we're not confident that we'll see him drinking again at the Test Tavern now.

Player of the day

Alastair Cook has broken more records on this trip than a pious Radio 1 DJ who had been given a stack of gangsta rap vinyl, and he shares the plaudits with Ian Bell who finally removed that Ashes monkey from his back. Their partnership of 154 transformed a game that had been in the balance to one where England are now utterly dominant.

Zero of the day

Although there were plenty of candidates amongst the Australian bowlers, it has to be Phillip Hughes. You could tell from his initial reaction that he knew that he hadn't caught Cook when he was on 99, but instead of asking the umpires to check the video he got carried away with the appeals of his team-mates. Did he really think that the footage would miss the obvious bounce before the ball went into his hands?

What happens next?

With the lead already 208, Australia's hopes of squaring the series are gone. England will likely try and bat until lunch before even considering a declaration with Matt Prior hoping to top the 85 he made in Melbourne. With the pitch likely to deteriorate, Australia will do well to combat Graeme Swann and avoid what seems a likely defeat.

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

When James Anderson took his fourth wicket of the morning to reduce Australia to 189/8 with only five overs of the second new ball gone, England looked well set for another big victory here at the SCG. But a second fifty of the series from Mitchell Johnson and excellent support from Ben Hilfenhaus in a 9th wicket partnership of 76 may have given Australia a way back into the Test. Andrew Strauss hasn't got much wrong in the series, but he set the field back for Johnson too quickly and his continual field changes after every boundary had an element of a follow-the-ball policy. At least for the neutrals, the game is well poised after the one-sided contests in Adelaide and Melbourne.

Colly's last hurrah?

Many expect this to be Paul Collingwood's last test match, but he once again showed that he offers England far more than runs by bowling Mike Hussey with the last delivery before the new ball. In a four-man attack, it is absolutely vital that someone else can bowl a handful of tight overs so give the frontline bowlers some rest. And Collingwood has performed this role well in the series, bowling 31 overs for just 73 runs and is England's best fielder. But can he now do what is required in his main role with the bat to extend his test career beyond Sydney?

Tonight Matthew, I'm going to be Virender Sehwag

Andrew Strauss would normally be bracketed in the accumulator rather than master blaster brand of openers, but he was closer to Sehwag than Boycott today in recording his fastest test fifty off just 49 balls. Strauss was helped on his way by the filth served up by Australia's three frontline seamers especially Hilfenhaus, whom Strauss pulled for six over deep square leg. Hilfenhaus got the last laugh though when the England captain missed a straight one, but he will hope his 60 from 58 balls has set the tone for England to build a big 1st innings lead.

Beer loses his fizz

Australia have spent most of the series fighting a losing battle to get Alastair Cook's wicket, so when debutant Michael Beer induced Cook to sky a slog sweep to mid-on with only his 14th ball in test cricket, his arrival in the side suddenly looked akin to a selectorial masterstroke. Beer's celebration went flat immediately though with umpire Billy Bowden calling for the review, which confirmed a no-ball. It may only be Beer's eighth first-class match, but there is no excuse for a spinner overstepping in any form of cricket. Cook, who has now passed 600 runs in the series and is the second youngest man after Tendulkar to reach 5,000 test runs, will be looking to make Beer and Australia pay.

Tonight Matthew, I'm going to be David Hasselhoff

When Shane Warne suggested that Graeme Swann was going to be strutting around like David Hasselhoff prior to the series, he probably didn't expect to be bowling him throwdowns at the SCG. But, sure enough there was the former Baywatch star chewing the fat with Glenn McGrath and trying to hit Warne out of the ground. Perhaps it gave Kevin Pietersen his cue, as that can be the only excuse for getting out hooking Johnson with less than four overs of the day to go. Johnson isn't renowned for his brains, but he has managed to ouwit Collingwood and Ian Bell at Melbourne, and now Pietersen here with ill-judged hook shots.

Player of the day

James Anderson came into this series with many doubting whether he could shine in Australian conditions and with the kookaburra ball. He proved these people wrong straight away in Brisbane without getting the wickets he deserved. But ever since the wickets have come and his four wickets this morning took his tally for the series to 21 - seven more than anyone else. He just shades the honours today from Johnson, whose fifty and two wickets have given Australia a foothold in the match.

Zero of the day

Jonathan Trott batted for 499 minutes and 345 balls for his unbeaten 168 at Melbourne, but he came crashing down to earth with a six ball duck today. As a result his stellar test average dropped by two and a half runs to 61.53 and his average against Australia by over 14 runs to 86.42. Still, it's not as if Trott wasn't due a failure.

What happens next?

A couple of quick wickets for Australia first-up will put them right back into the match and with Collingwood due in next, they will fancy their chances. England will hope that Cook can reach a third hundred of the series as part of getting a 150 run lead. It is all set-up for another fascinating day's cricket.

Sunday, January 02, 2011

Mission Australia is almost accomplished. The Ashes have been retained, but the series is not yet won and England will be intent on securing the victory that will earn the 3-1 scoreline that their dominance throughout the series both deserves and demands.

England's stated intention is to become the number one side in the world. There is still someway to go until they are even close to achieving that - winning in India for example - but a series win in Australia would be a good start. Extra incentive could be provided by last year's series in South Africa when England went into the final match of the series in Johannesburg 1-0 up. They were then blown away by Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel and returned home with a creditable share of the spoils rather than a glorious scalp.

The pitch at the Sydney Cricket Ground traditionally favours spin and swing, so Graeme Swann will look to reprise the leading role he played in the second innings of the crushing win in Adelaide. Swing King James Anderson too will be licking his lips - as will Mitchell Johnson if the radar has returned - at the prospect of embellishing his position as the leading wicket-taker in the series.

For Australia, the match has the appearance of a new chapter with Michael Clarke taking over from the injured Ricky Ponting to become Australia's 43rd Test captain - a position that has the same profile and pressure down under as the manager of the nation's football team does in England. There will be debuts too for Usman Khawaja - the first muslim to play for Australia - and Michael Beer, who will play his 8th first-class match and his first at the SCG.

Likely line-ups

England are likely to be unchanged with Tim Bresnan retaining his place ahead of the rested Steven Finn and Paul Collingwood playing what could prove to be his final test unless he can rediscover his mojo with the bat.

Khawaja will likely replace Ponting at number three - although it would be a real statement of intent for Clarke to take this pivotal role, whilst Beer will replace the injured Ryan Harris. Doug Bollinger will likely be 12th man, giving Ben Hilfenhaus another opportunity to get amongst the wickets.

Look out for...

Michael Clarke has had just as a poor series with the bat as his erstwhile captain with just 148 runs at 21.14, and his previous silky technique seems to have deserted him. Indeed, his stats in his last 8 Tests are 322 runs at 21.46. So will the extra pressure of the captaincy provide renewal or further pain?

Graeme Swann has had a solid rather than spectacular series. Poor in Brisbane and Perth, but impressive in Adelaide and Melbourne. The SCG pitch should suit him, so a match-winning performance here would be no real surprise.

Previously at Sydney

They've been playing test cricket at the SCG since 1882 and England have a good record at the ground with 21 wins to Australia's 25 with 7 draws.

2007 - Australia won by 10 wickets- Warne, McGrath and Langer's grand finale as Australia walloped a shellshocked England to confirm the first Ashes whitewash since 1920/21.

2003 - England won by 225 runs- In a match perhaps best remembered for Steve Waugh's emotional hundred, England prevented a series whitewash with Mark Butcher's hundred in the first innings and Michael Vaughan's sparkling 183 - his third ton of the series - in the second, helping set Australia a stiff target of 452. Andy Caddick then took seven wickets - ten in the match - in his final test to let England bow out of a tough series on a high.

1999 - Australia won by 98 runs- England went into the final test of the series knowing that a win would enable them to square the series. But despite a hat-trick from Darren Gough on day 1, the luck deserted England when the third umpire controversially adjudged that Michael Slater had not been run out for 35 in Australia's second innings. Slater went on to make a brilliant 123 out of 184 and the target of 287 proved too much for Alec Stewart's side.

1995 - Match drawn - A potentially famous victory for England was ruined by the weather. Michael Atherton, John Crawley and Gough all hit half-centuries as England hit 309 batting first, before they shot out Australia for just 116 - they were 65/8 at one point. Atherton then declared with Graeme Hick two runs short of a hundred, but the weather, hundreds from Mark Taylor and Slater and stern resistance down the order enabled Australia to escape with the draw.

Prediction

In Australia's favour is their imposing recent record at the SCG - 14 wins in their last 16 matches including the remarkable turnaround against Pakistan last year. Indeed, England (in 2003 - see above) are the only opponents to win at the venue during this time. However, as we've seen during the series, this Australian team is a shadow of its immediate predecessors and if England retain their focus, they should secure a comfortable win to take the series 3-1.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

After all the talk of securing the Ashes before Christmas and going through the tour unbeaten, England certainly came crashing back down to earth in Perth. Indeed, the collapse from 78/0 to 187 all out in the first innings was so disappointing that Icarus himself could have been the pilot of England’s doom. And it got worse in the second innings too with the capitulation for 123 reminding us that being an England cricket fan can be tough.

In fact, with alarming regularity, England’s batting has a tendency to brittleness and being prone to collapse like a house of cards in a force nine gale. On far too many occasions in our 30 years of following England expectation and anticipation can quickly turn into crushing disappointment, misery and despair.

Here is a dirty dozen of England’s worst batting performances over this time. Unfortunately, it is not an exhaustive list but merely one compiled of those disasters that come most easily to mind.

1. 51 all out, 2nd innings, vs West Indies, 1st Test, Kingston, 2009

In an inauspicious start for Andy Flower in his first match in charge, England started their 2ndinnings 74 runs behind. Just 33.2 overs later England were all out for 51. Coincidentally, this was almost a role reversal of what had happened at the same ground five years before when Steve Harmison, with 7 for 12 had bowled the West Indies out for 47.

Having played well throughout the match, England had been set 194 to win and were confident even though they needed to get the better of Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh to reach their target. Nineteen overs of hostile fast bowling later, England were dismissed for a paltry 46, Ambrose with 6 for 24 and Walsh 3 for 16.

3. 79 all out, 2nd innings, vs Australia, 1st Test, Brisbane, 2003

After Nasser Hussain’s bizarre decision to give Australia first use of a flat Gabba track, England were always chasing this game especially with Matthew Hayden scoring a century in each innings. Set an unlikely 463 to win, England were demolished for 79. And Mark Butcher scored 40 of this dismal total!

4. 175 all out, 2nd innings, vs Pakistan, 1st Test, Multan, 2005

After dominating this match, with Marcus Trescothick scoring 193 in England’s 1stinnings and Andrew Flintoff taking match figures of 8 for 156, England were set 198 to win on the last day of the 1stTest. However, they fell 22 runs short to the express pace of Shoaib Akhtar and the wily spin of Danish Kaneira. The balloon of optimism from the 2005 Ashes success had been burst after only one match.

5. 129 all out, 2nd innings, vs Australia, 2nd Test, Adelaide, 2006

On the flattest of flat pitches England had scored 551 for 6 in their 1stinnings, with Paul Collingwood scoring a double century. Although Australia had responded with 513 all out, surely England couldn’t lose from here? Even the Australians, Shane Warne apart, expected the game to meander to a draw. However, after a shocking and timid display England were bowled out for 129 in 73 overs. Australia won by six wickets, and England, with Flintoff crying as he bowled, never recovered and lost the series 5-0.

Not one but two dismal batting performances in the same match. The nadir of a shambolic tour to the land of the long white cloud in 1983 was the 2ndTest at Christchurch, where after New Zealand made 307 in their 1st innings, England were shot for 82 and 93, following on, to lose by an innings. Richard Hadlee had match figures of 8 for 44.

7. 162 all out, 2ndinnings, vs New Zealand, 4th Test, The Oval, 1999

In this fourth and deciding Test of the series, England suffered the ignominy of defeat against a New Zealand side that had previously been ranked the worst team in Test cricket. Chasing 245 to win, England slumped from 123 for 2 to 162 all out to replace the Kiwis at the bottom of the rankings. Fortunately, Nasser Hussain recovered from this inauspicious start to his captaincy to help forge a more resilient England side in tandem with Duncan Fletcher.

England were shot out for 203 by a South African side that had just had to save the 1stTest at Lords. England, who had brought the hitherto unknown Darren Pattinson in for Collingwood, were blown away in 52.3 overs. South Africa responded with 522 and England eventually lost by ten wickets. This defeat and another one in the following Test at Edgbaston led to the resignation of Ashes hero Michael Vaughan as skipper.

9. 222 all out, 2nd innings, vs Pakistan, 3rd Test, The Oval, 2010

Having recovered from 94/7 in the first innings thanks to Matt Prior’s 84, England started their second innings 75 behind Pakistan. However, with Alastair Cook hitting a career saving hundred, England were 81 ahead with only two wickets down. Then Cook’s demise led to a sorry procession and the last seven wickets fell for 28 and despite a late flurry of wickets, Pakistan won by 4 wickets.

10. 155 all out, 1st innings, vs Australia, 1st Test, Lords, 2005

After bowling the Aussies out for 190, with Harmison taking 5 for 43, England collapsed to 21 for 5 thanks to their nemesis Glenn McGrath. Although the Aussies went on to win this battle by 239 runs, England won the war, the adulation, the Trafalgar Square celebrations and their MBEs.

Having escaped by the skin of their teeth in the previous test at Cape Town, England went into the final test at The Wanderers needing just a draw to win the series. Unfortunately as at the WACA, the pitch had pace and bounce, and when Andrew Strauss was out to the first ball of the match, England’s defeat seemed inevitable. They weren’t helped by Daryl Harper’s ineptitude in the video umpire’s chair enabling Graeme Smith to be reprieved on the way to a hundred, but it was their inability to face the pace barrage from Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel - who snared 14 wickets between them - that hastened their doom.

12. 102 all out, 1st innings, vs Australia, 4thTest, Headingley, 2009

With all the talk before hand being about how a win would enable England to regain the Ashes (remind anyone of anything?), a confident Strauss elected to bat on a bowler friendly Headingley surface. But, fears that in the absence of Kevin Pietersen, the England batting was totally reliant on Strauss came to pass. With Stuart Broad batting too high at seven in the absence of Flintoff, and the selectors continuing to rely on an out of his depth Ravi Bopara, at number three, Australia roared back into the series. Happily for England, they bounced back to win the series and the Ashes in the next test at The Oval – can they repeat the trick in Melbourne?

Friday, December 17, 2010

We're not sure what his Mother said to him or whether he drew inspiration from listening to 'I Am the Resurrection' by the Stone Roses, but it certainly seems to have worked for the cuckolded Mitchell Johnson. After getting less movement than a cyrogenically frozen sloth at Brisbane, he suddenly regained the ability to swing the ball at his favourite WACA hunting ground. After Alastair Cook had given Johnson his first wicket of the series, he set-up Jonathan Trott perfectly before trapping him in front with an in-swinger. Kevin Pietersen was then beaten for pace in the same over and Paul Collingwood followed soon after before he returned to mop up the tail. Those that said Johnson was the most likely to take a bag of wickets close together were suddenly vindicated.

Not so hot for Trott

Jonathan Trott's test average went over 60 at Adelaide, but there have been a number of insinuations that he isn't comfortable against the short ball. Trott certainly struggled on a fast, bouncy pitch at The Wanderers last winter and he looked all at sea in his brief innings today. After nearly top-edging a bouncer behind, he edged through the slips for four before being beaten by an in-swinger from Johnson. It's far too early to suggest that there is a chink in Trott's armoury but he certainly seemed rattled today by the extra bounce and pace of the wicket.

Cook serves up an unappetising lunch dish for England

It's hard to criticise Cook after his exploits in Brisbane and Adelaide, but with him and Andrew Strauss moving serenely along England were on top and the Australian attack looked pretty innocuous. Then one lazy waft outside off-stump and suddenly the course of this Test match has changed irrevocably. Cook can't be blamed for what followed, but his injudicious shot gave Johnson an unlikely confidence boost and exposed the men that followed on a pitch where batsmen are more vulnerable than normal when they first come to the crease.

England’s collapse fetish returns with a vengeance

After clocking up 517/1 in the second innings at Brisbane and then 620/5 declared at Adelaide, England’s batsmen looked like inflicting more pain on Australia’s bowlers as they moved to 1215 for 6 across the three innings. Then Cook went and everything fell apart as ten wickets went for just 109 runs. The familiar batting collapses of the summer against Pakistan had returned with a vengeance whilst a bewildered Ian Bell - in the form of his life - was left high and dry at the crease by his fellow batsmen. We wonder if the England dressing room has suffered from the same dose of hubris as the multitude of crowing England followers – us included – after day one.

Ponting's slump

On a remarkably good day for his side, Ricky Ponting suffered personal disappointment by being caught down the leg-side for just 1. If you take away his unbeaten 51 in the dead 2nd innings at Brisbane, Ponting has scored just 32 runs in five innings. Maybe it is time for him to drop down the order?

Finn's dangerous quirk

Steven Finn’s unpredictability is rapidly becoming his most dangerous asset as the batsmen just don’t know what delivery is coming next. After a first over that contained more long hops than a frenetic giant bunny, he roared back to dismiss Phil Hughes and then Ponting in quick succession as Finn confirmed his position as the leading wicket-taker in the series. Clearly, he is not the finished article yet and nowhere near the metronomic Glenn McGrath clone he says he wants to be. Give him time though.

Player of the day

Like many, we had plenty of fun at Mitchell Johnson's expense during and after the Gabba Test, so it is only fair to give him the highest praise after his performance today. Six wickets after top scoring yesterday means he is odds-on to be man of the match here. Zero (see Zeroes: Mitchell Johnson) to hero indeed.

Zero of the day

On a day of England zeroes, Jonathan Trott's frenetic innings stood out - he looked like getting out every ball. But we'll forgive him his first failure against Australia.

What happens next?

Australia are now in command - who'd have thought that whilst Strauss and Cook were at the crease? If they can stretch their lead beyond 300, it's hard to see England winning this Test and having been outplayed for the majority of the series, Australia will be 1-1 going in to the Boxing Day Test. Have England thrown the Ashes away? Only time will tell.

Saturday, December 04, 2010

When you've seen Mitch, Hilfy and little Nathan dispensed with and Siddle, Doug the Rug, X-Doh and Harris prove to be just as impotent, there is only one thing to do. Pray to the Almighty for the return of Pigeon McGrath and Warney for Perth.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Records tumbled as Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott mercilessly ground Australia into the dust on day five at The Gabba. Cook's 235 not out is now the highest individual score in Gabba Tests beating Bradman's 226 against South Africa in 1931. The unbroken 329 stand is the highest for England in Australia and is also the highest for any wicket at The Gabba: beating Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin's effort on Saturday - doesn't that seem a long time ago now? Indeed it is only the second time that two 300+ run stands have occurred in the same test - the other was Pakistan vs India in Lahore in 2006. And Trott now has 300+ stands in successive tests following his 332 partnership with Stuart Broad against Pakistan at Lord's. Dedication indeed.

Can we play you every week?

The Barmy Army struck up this familiar refrain as the game edged towards the inevitable draw. Trott would probably concur having now hit two second innings hundreds in his two Ashes tests to date. And both have come at vital times - his 119 on debut helped England win the Oval decider in 2009 and unbeaten 135 today confirmed that England had saved the Test. Trott now averages 59 in Test cricket - we bet even he cannot believe that.

They couldn't catch a cold

If a particularly virulent form of Bird Flu had reached The Gabba in the last two days the Australian Cricket Team would have been immune as they couldn't seem to catch anything. We've never seen such a sloppy performance from an Australian side in the field. Yesterday, we saw Mitchell Johnson drop a sitter, with Peter Siddle and Michael Clarke spilling more difficult chances. Today, Clarke dropped one of the easiest slip chances you will ever see. Even the catch that stuck wasn't given when the third umpire ruled that there was too much doubt to give Cook out to catch that Ponting looked to have just got his fingers under.

Cook the usurper

Not only did Cook usurp Bradman to hit the highest ever Test score at The Gabba, but he also hit the highest individual score by an England batsman since his fellow Essex and England opener hit 333 against India in 1990. Indeed, it was the highest score by an England batsman against Australia since the late and great Ken Barrington scored 256 at Old Trafford in 1964. Cook's match aggregate of 302 runs means that he has now scored more runs in this game than he managed in the whole of the 2006/07 series when he hit just 276 runs.

What a difference four years makes

In 2006 at Adelaide, England were 97 runs ahead with nine wickets intact and still managed to lose. Here they were 88 runs ahead with nine wickets standing at the close last night but didn't even lose a wicket today. That said, the opposition didn't have Warne, McGrath or Lee this time either.

Australia's bowling in disarray

The pitch may have been like the runway at nearby Brisbane Airport, but Australia's bowling was horrendously impotent. Take away a couple of inspired spells from Siddle on the first day and what do you have? Not a lot. The only Australian bowler smiling will be Doug Bollinger, who surely must come in for the hopeless Johnson. Ponting certainly showed his frustration in the way he batted - hitting the ball as hard as he would probably like to hit Johnson et al after this showing.

Player of the day

Cook continued on his merry way to hit the giddy heights of 235 not out - the 6th highest individual score by an Englishman against Australia. So with all due respect to Trott, it's Cook for this accolade.

Zero of the day

Clarke ran him close for dropping such an easy chance, but for the second successive day it has to be Johnson. If anything he bowled even worse than yesterday with a terrible bouncer to Trott that went miles down the leg side for five wides being particularly damning - see also Zeroes: Mitchell Johnson.

Prospects for Adelaide

More of the same - can anyone see either of these sides taking 20 wickets on as good a batting surface as is likely to be encountered at the Adelaide Oval?

Friday, November 26, 2010

As Steve Harmison and now Andrew Strauss will testify, England have a habit of starting Brisbane Tests of recent vintage very badly. But Strauss's third ball dismissal yesterday and Harmison's wayward opening delivery of the 2006/07 series are small fry compared to the unmitigated disaster that was Martin McCague in the Brisbane Test of the 1994/95 series.

Dubbed “the rat who joined the sinking ship” by the Australian press on account of his upbringing down under, his selection for the tour ahead of Angus Fraser was already controversial as part of Raymond Illingworth's ill-conceived strategy of fighting fire with fire.

As it transpired McCague may well have been a double agent judging by his shocking performance and captain Michael Atherton would have been better off opening the bowling himself when he lost the toss on the flattest of tracks.

McCague wasn't the only culprit but after a new ball spell that lasted just two overs, he returned in the afternoon for a monstrously bad spell of 6-0-55-0 as Michael Slater flayed the England attack all over the Woolloongabba. He ended up with 2/96 off 19.2 overs but as his victims were Craig McDermott and Glenn McGrath, who were both out to attempted slogs it's safe to assume that his grandchildren will not hear about the time he had McGrath caught at mid-off.

McCague could have been excused his opening day nerves if he hadn't then cried off the second innings claiming that an errant oyster had caused an upset stomach. Most people including Darren Gough concluded that he had bottled it. Crap and cowardly - a rat indeed.

Thursday, November 04, 2010

After a couple of days break – well you know how much time KP spends in the nets, here is the latest instalment in Kevin Pietersen’s Ashes diary, which is being brought to you exclusively this winter on The Reverse Sweep.

On Doug Bollinger

I’d never heard of this Doug Boddingtons character until a few days ago. Apparently he’s heard of me though. Last time he was going on about Nathan Hauritz’s new mystery ball getting me out – apparently it is called an ego or something. Now he has said that he’d like to "have Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen in his pocket." What? It sounds like some strange English Public School ritual – I’ll have to ask Straussy what this fool is going on about. I hope it isn’t as painful as the toastrack.

On Glenn McGrath

I bumped into Glenn McGrath the other day. He didn’t fall for the cricket ball under the shoe trick that I pulled at Edgbaston in 2005 – shit, don’t print that! Swanny and I gave him a bit of a ribbing about Australia’s serial losing habit and asked him what his prediction for the series was. It was 5-0, of course. He may be right too, if Australia continue to play like they are.

On Sri Lanka’s amazing win at Melbourne

It looks like I was right to be worried about this Xavier Doherty dude - oh man, another slow left armer to haunt my dreams and wreck my average. I left the ground after his fourth wicket to go and have a lie down. Do you know the result?

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Picking which pace bowlers should take their place in our all-time Australian and England Ashes XIs is perhaps the toughest category of all.

It becomes even more difficult when you consider that with Keith Miller already picked as the all-rounder and the depth of Australia's stock of spinners through the years that there may only be two rather than three spots available.

As such in order to get down to a shortlist of eight, we've had to rule out a legion of excellent fast bowlers. Names like Jeff Thomson, Jack Gregory, Ted McDonald, Brett Lee, Geoff Lawson, Merv Hughes, Jason Gillespie, Garth McKenzie and Rodney Hogg all miss out - the latter deserving a mention for his record of 56 wickets at 17 in 11 Ashes tests.

Taking our eight in historical order we start with the Demon himself Fred Spofforth, whose 14 for 90 at The Oval in 1882 led to England's defeat by seven runs and inspired Brooks' mock obituary in the Sporting Times, which gave the contest its name. In a time when bowlers held sway, Spofforth took 59 Ashes wickets at 19.98 and 94 wickets in all against England at 18.41.

The Demon was succeeded by Charles 'Terror' Turner who continued the carnage snaring 101 victims in 17 Ashes tests at an incredible 16.53 with 11 five fors. No wonder the Terror is reckoned to be one of Australia's foremost bowlers ever.

Next up is Miller's partner in crime and fellow Invincible Ray Lindwall, who by all accounts was poetry in motion with unwavering control and devilish late swing. Len Hutton was certainly impressed explaining that "The genius of Lindwall was expressed in a variety of ways, not least in his cleverly disguised and devastating pace changes and in a bouncer delivered without any giveaways". Lindwall took 114 wickets at 22.44 in 29 Ashes tests and if this wasn't enough also averaged 22 with the bat and scored a 90 ball hundred at Melbourne in 1947.

Australia have produced a flood of left arm quicks in recent years but the best in their history by a mile is Alan Davidson, who probably only ranks behind Wasim Akram in the pantheon of left arm quicks. Davidson took 84 wickets in 25 Ashes tests at 23.76 and like Lindwall was a dangerous hitter down the order, averaging 24 against England.

Many believed that Dennis Lillee was the complete bowler and he certainly reigned terror on English batsmen for over a decade, initially with sheer pace and then with cunning as injuries reduced his speed over time. After taking 31 wickets at less than 18 in the 1972 series, Lillee played the support act to Jeff Thomson when England were simply blown away in 1974/75. In all, Lillee took 128 Ashes wickets at 22.32 - figures that are actually improved when all tests he played against England are taken into account - 167 wickets at 21.

He may not be considered as one of Australia's greatest bowlers ever, but against England the ever smiling Terry Alderman was pretty much unplayable - he still probably haunts Graham Gooch to this day. Alderman took exactly 100 wickets in 17 Ashes tests at just over 21 and in the 1981 and 1989 series in England snared 41 and 42 wickets respectively.

The 1985 series may have seen a poor Australian side well beaten 3-1, but it did see the emergence of 19 year old Craig McDermott who took 30 wickets in the series. He continued to enjoy playing against England and took eight Ashes five fors in 16 Ashes tests - taking eight in an innings twice. In all, McDermott took 84 wickets at 26 against England.

Last but not least comes old metronome himself Glenn McGrath - the man who still causes Michael Atherton the odd sleepless night or two. As well as routinely predicting 5-0 series victories for Australia (and finally getting it right in 2006/07), McGrath took a bagful of English wickets in his 30 Ashes tests. 157 victims at 20.92 with 10 five fors speaks for itself and it can be no coincidence that the two tests England won in the 2005 series saw McGrath sitting on the sidelines with injury.

So we need to pick three - the decision whether to play three or two will come later when we get to the spinners. As good as Alderman and McDermott were, they are a level below the other names on the shortlist and in the former's case Gooch is not in the England side. It may be unfair, but the Demon and the Terror also miss out in the final reckoning simply because the odds seem to have been so heavily weighted in favour of the bowlers in Victorian Test cricket.

Finally, although we would prefer to pick a leftie in our final three, we just cannot justify selecting Davidson aheadof either Lindwall, Lillee or McGrath. So the final three names it is with Lillee being the first pick and Lindwall inching ahead of McGrath if we opt for two spinners in the final XI. As an Englishman, the sight of McGrath bringing out the drinks brings a smile to the face as I am sure it would to Atherton if he was commentating.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

The start of our Ashes 100-1 feature coincided with Ricky Ponting's "absolutely possible" response to a question asking if Australia could repeat their 5-0 whitewash of four years ago. Although Ponting, didn't quite veer into full Glenn McGrath territory and make an outright 5-0 prediction, it does seem to have heralded the start of what Andrew Strauss has shrewdly termed the "silly season" of Ashes propaganda. And that is our subject today.

Most of the mud so far seems to have been slung from the Australians bringing to mind Douglas Jardine's immortal view that "All Australians are an unruly and uneducated mob". We don't quite subscribe to that view here, but the Australians have certainly been keen to get their shots in early. Ponting himself has been busy exercising his jaw with fairly forthright views on the "cracks" in the England batting, which he elaborated on during a recent interview with the BBC's Test Match Special:

"Alastair Cook saved his career with a second innings hundred while Pietersen has not made a Test hundred in nearly 12 months which is pretty remarkable when you consider the quality of player he is. Strauss has not made many runs in the last few games either while Trott is reasonably new and they’ll have a question mark at six as to whether they’ll play Morgan or Bell."

This England supporter thinks most of Ponting's comments are a fairly accurate assessment of England's current batting ills, although his moans about a number of English players not being English are a bit disingenuous. Get over it Punter.

We do take umbrage however, when that excuse for a lobotomy Shane Watson becomes involved. Apart from being surprised that he can actually string more than two words together, we read his views on Stephen Finn with some humour. Firstly, he wasted time stating the bleeding obvious when he said of Finn that "he's never been to Australia". No shit Sherlock, given that Finn didn't make his test debut until earlier this year in Bangladesh, I'd have thought that we are all aware that Finn hasn't played a test match Down Under.

Watson went on to say that he and the Australians will be targeting Finn adding that if the Middlesex paceman "bowls anywhere near a loose ball, I want to put it away". Yes, and England will be targeting Mitchell Johnson and whoever plays out of Steve Smith and Nathan Hauritz. Tell us something we don't know, Shane.

As we said we don't have a problem with Ponting's pontificating, nor did we mind the tongue-in-cheek 5-0 predictions of Glenn McGrath or Shane Warne announcing that he had developed a new mystery ball before each Ashes series. But surely Australia can put up someone with a bit more grey matter and charisma than Watson? Even most Australian cricket fans seem to despise him.

We'll make a prediction with regards to Watson. And that is that his surprisingly successful honeymoon as a test opener is about to end and he will be back where he belongs in the middle order by the end of the series.

Whether we like it or not, get set for the trash talk to intensify as the beginning of the series approaches ever nearer. But please can some of it at least be humorous, which means no more Watson please.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Once again today in our Ashes 100-1 countdown as we reach number 89, David Siddall of World Cricket Watch delivers the post. Today, David looks at the weird and wonderful world of Ashes predictions. No one will be surprised to read that Glenn McGrath features heavily!

The Ashes edges nearer by the day. And this time around it appears the series is just too close to call. Both Australia and England’s susceptible batting lineups have been exposed by an extremely talented Pakistani bowling outfit. Australia are light years away from being the same side that dominated world cricket for close to two decades. England might be a side on the up, but question marks still remain about whether they can turn it on down under. As things stand we shouldn’t write off either side. It might just come back to bite us as history indicates…

The Case of the English Media

That’s exactly what happened in the 1989 Ashes series in England. Australia went into the series as massive underdogs. But they weren’t just considered underdogs as the English media proceeded to label the tourists as ‘possibly the worst ever side to tour England’. Some claim indeed! What resulted was one of the most one-sided test series to ever take place. Australia thumped England 4-0 and left the English and their media with a severe case of egg on face. The extent of the one-sidedness was illustrated by the Australians using just 12 players compared with the 29 who got a run out for England.

It was to be the start of Australia’s Ashes domination which would continue right up until the infamous series back at the home of cricket in 2005.

The Curious Case of Glenn McGrath

There is nothing that Glenn McGrath likes to do more in life than predicting the outcome of The Ashes. He’s certainly not scared of sticking his nose out to when others sit on the fence. In fact, whatever the situation you can rest assured that “Pigeon” will go for a 5-0 victory for the Aussies.

In 2005 that’s exactly what he did and his prediction came unstuck as England won the series 2-1 in exhilarating fashion. Fast forward to 2007 and you might have thought McGrath would be less confident to predict yet another 5-0 result in favour of the Australians. But Glenn has never lacked courage in his conviction and 5-0 is exactly what he went for. Yet this time around the prediction was vindicated as a spineless England capitulated from ball one as Steve Harmison set the tone for things to come with his delivery to second slip.

Australia recorded their first Ashes whitewash since the 1920s in emphatic fashion. Somehow McGrath just knew. Come the 2010 Ashes, England will no doubt discover once more just how difficult it is to come and take on the Aussies in their own backyard. But surely a whitewash has to be out the question….

Predicting the Ashes in 2010…

When pushed for an answer, the Australian captain, Ricky Ponting, remarked how a 5-0 whitewash is possible. You couldn’t help but feel that he didn’t say it with that same McGrath conviction from yesteryear. Despite the whitewash being billed as an outside bet, it is clear from the betting markets that Australia start as clear favourites. To compound why, it is no coincidence that the side with home advantage has won the last four Ashes series.

Which way will this series go? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Here’s how the bookies have it…

Monday, August 23, 2010

It may not have been quite to the extent of Glenn McGrath's habitual 5-0 to Australia predictions, but Ricky Ponting's answer that a whitewash in favour of his side was "absolutely possible" this winter has caused hoots of derision in the English media.

Andrew Strauss has chosen to keep his counsel as to whether England could triumph 5-0 and referred to Ponting's remark as the start of "silly season". England won't win 5-0 of course, but we thought it would be fun to devote number 94 of our Ashes 100-1 countdown to the prospect of a such an emphatic series win for England this winter. If Strauss and his men can be inspired by their triumphant predecessors and draw inspiration from famous victories at each of the five venues, then who knows?

1-0 at Brisbane - inspired by A.P.F Chapman's side of 1928-29

A.P.F Chapman's side of 1928-29 (see picture) has a strong claim to being the best England team ever considering it contained greats such as Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Hammond, Mead, Hendren, Jardine, Larwood and Tate. They certainly walloped the Australians 4-1 and in the first test ever at The Gabba (also the first of the series), they humiliated their hosts by a still record test runs margin of 675 runs (see scorecard). Hendren hit 169 as England amassed 521 before as a forerunner to what would happen four years later, Larwood ran through the Australian batting line-up to finish with six for 32 as Australia were dismissed for 122. Chapman chose not to enforce the follow-on in what was a timeless test and Jardine made 65 not out as England made 342 for eight declared in their second innings. Set a mammoth 742 to win and with two men absent through injury, Australia capsized to 66 all out. The game is also notable as it saw the test match bow of one Donald Bradman. It wasn't the most auspicious of debuts as Bradman only made 18 and 1 and was dropped for the second test.

2-0 at Adelaide - inspired by Len Hutton's side of 1954-55

Despite a crushing defeat in the 1st test at Brisbane, Len Hutton's team inspired by Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson retained the Ashes with a 3-1 victory, which was sealed by a five wicket victory at Adelaide in the fourth test (see scorecard). Tyson, Bailey and Appleyard limited Australia to 323 in their first innings before Hutton (80) and Cowdrey (79) ensured England gained a slender 18 run lead on first innings. Tyson and Appleyard again, this time in tandem with Statham skittled the Australians for 111, before Compton steered England to their target of 94 after Miller had set hearts a flutter with three early wickets.

3-0 at Perth - inspired by Mike Brearley's side of 1978-79

England have only one won test at the WACA, which came during the series of 1978-79 (see scorecard) when Mike Brearley led England to a 5-1 series stroll against an Australian side severely depleted by the defection of most of its star players to World Series Cricket. In a relatively low-scoring contest, England won the Perth test by 166 runs. Gower scored 102 as England reached 309 in their first innings, before Willis took five for 44 to dismiss Australia for 190 and give his side a decisive lead. England didn't fare much better in their second innings as they slipped to 208 all out with Hogg (who took 41 wickets in the series) taking five for 57. But it was still too much for a weakened Australian batting line-up, which subsided for 161 to give England a 2-0 series lead.

4-0 at Melbourne - inspired by Mike Gatting's side of 1986-87

The team that was famously tagged as the side that "can't bat, can't bowl and can't field" retained the Ashes and sealed the series by going 2-0 up in the fourth test at Melbourne (see scorecard). Small and Botham took five wickets apiece as Australia were skittled for 141, before a third century of the series for Broad formed the basis of England's reply of 349. Australia fared little better in their second innings as they fell for 194 to complete a sorry three day defeat. Little did English cricket fans realise that it would be over 18 years before England would hold the Ashes again.

5-0 at Sydney - inspired by Douglas Jardine's side of 1932-33

Cricket's most infamous test series began with England recording an emphatic 10 wicket victory at Sydney (see scorecard) in the first test as a precursor to a controversial ride to an eventual 4-1 series triumph, which saw the Ashes regained by the same score as Chapman's side had done four years earlier. Bradman, the primary target of Jardine's leg theory approach, missed this test due to a dispute with the Australian Board and watched McCabe play the best innings of them all against what would universally be forever known as Bodyline. McCabe's 187 not out amounted to over half of Australia's first innings total of 360, with Larwood taking five and Voce four. In reply, England had three centurions - Sutcliffe (194), Hammond (112) and Pataudi (102) as they recorded 524. Larwood then took another five for to reach ten wickets for the match as Australia were bundled out for 164 leaving Sutcliffe to fittingly hit the one run required for victory. The die had been cast.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Ricky Ponting appearing on the Australian version of Stars In Their Eyes, and announcing the immortal words "Tonight Matthew, I am going to be Glenn McGrath", before duly predicting that a 5-0 Ashes win was "absolutely possible" this winter. Weren't you bowled out for 88 in your last test, Ricky?

Yuvraj Singh contracting dengue fever. 2010 has truly been an Annus Horribilis so far for Yuvraj, but I suppose at least he may lose some of that excess weight now.

Hampshire crowned FP T20 champions after an admittedly exciting set of semi-finals and final at the Rose Bowl, which saw Essex jet over Dwayne Bravo only to see him make only five off eight balls before being run out and then being hammered for 46 off his four overs.

Alastair Cook retain his place in the England side for the third test at The Oval. We feel the selectors have missed an opportunity here to move Trott up to open (especially as he and Strauss have batted well together) and blood James Hildreth (six centuries this summer) or take another look at Ravi Bopara. Cook too may have been better served by going back to Essex to regain form and confidence.

A massive reprieve for Kamran Akmal after his replacement Zulqarnain Haider was ruled out of the rest of the test series with a fractured finger. There has been some talk that the injury was caused when Stuart Broad threw the ball at Zulqarnain during the Edgbaston test. Could make things spicy at The Oval on Wednesday.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

For years English cricket fans have had to take a gutful of cocky comments from a series of Australian cricketers. Whether it was Glenn McGrath's habitual 5-0 predictions, Shane Warne's supposed new deliveries or Steve Waugh questioning the ticker of certain England players, our boys have certainly taken a lot of stick from what was admittedly a generation of truly great Australian cricketers.

Now though, the shoe is on the other foot. England hold the Ashes, beat the Australians in the World T20 final and lead 2-0 in the current five match Nat West Series. Any semblance of aura has gone from this Australian side and under the leadership of Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower, England are now confident every time they come up against Ricky Ponting's men.

And they are not afraid of saying so. Having endured in particular McGrath's taunts, it was wonderful to hear Paul Collingwood utter the following ahead of the third match at Old Trafford today.

"We're confident every time we go out and play Australia. It's not arrogance. We are now confident we can beat anyone in one-day cricket on any given day. If you look at Australia's record over the last year or so they still have that air of invincibility, because they haven't lost many games. But we are the better side at the moment."

And what makes it even better, is that unlike some of McGrath's statements, everything Collingwood says is true.

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